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Which Linux Desktop Distribution is the best for me?
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Comments (34)
let's confuse the noob
I get the feeling that people who write garbage like this are just trying to fill their quota of articles for the month. He gives a laundry list of criteria, and a smorgasbord of Distros. Helpful? Quite the contrary. Pieces like this create more confusion, and, do much more harm than good for new users.
Personally, I recommend PCLinuxOS, Mepis or Ubuntu. I tell them to play with the live cd, install in VMWare if they like one of them, and point them to the forums for help and LXer for news.
It is not possible to say "Distro X is best for you" but any of these will be suitable, which is what they are after.
It is not possible to say "Distro X is best for you" but any of these will be suitable, which is what they are after.
I like his suggestion to try live CD list.
"Try a couple of LiveCDs. Here's a brief list of 300 or so."
Poor sap will probably run screaming back to MS.
"Try a couple of LiveCDs. Here's a brief list of 300 or so."
Poor sap will probably run screaming back to MS.
> Poor sap will probably run screaming back to MS.
About 80% of the time when someone tells me they tried Linux, they went back to Windows for just that reason.
It's a cardinal sin in some circles to recommend anything. The new user is supposed to make his own decisions. Doesn't work that way. Hence, my short recipe - whether or not everyone agrees with it, it gets the job done.
About 80% of the time when someone tells me they tried Linux, they went back to Windows for just that reason.
It's a cardinal sin in some circles to recommend anything. The new user is supposed to make his own decisions. Doesn't work that way. Hence, my short recipe - whether or not everyone agrees with it, it gets the job done.
> Personally, I recommend PCLinuxOS, Mepis or Ubuntu.
That's a fairly good selection, yes. I'd add Slax if you're recommending live CD's.
That's a fairly good selection, yes. I'd add Slax if you're recommending live CD's.
> About 80% of the time when someone tells me they tried Linux, they went back to Windows for just that reason.
And, they usually tried the Linux randomly chosen from some dumb article like this one. The fact is that the person was looking for 'real expert advise' and he ended up getting glittering generalities.
I do support on several IRC channels including the freenode #mepis. Strangely enough I, and most other support people there, don't always recommend mepis to a new user. Since we're the 'experts', we're gonna recommend the Distro that we think best 'for that individual'. Almost always, a happy new Linux user returns a day or two later to thank us for the help.
And, they usually tried the Linux randomly chosen from some dumb article like this one. The fact is that the person was looking for 'real expert advise' and he ended up getting glittering generalities.
I do support on several IRC channels including the freenode #mepis. Strangely enough I, and most other support people there, don't always recommend mepis to a new user. Since we're the 'experts', we're gonna recommend the Distro that we think best 'for that individual'. Almost always, a happy new Linux user returns a day or two later to thank us for the help.
Pah. Noobs. We don't want 'em anyway. The weeping when their winprinters don't work is so tedious.
> Pah. Noobs. We don't want 'em anyway.
There are some days when that seems to be all too true....
There are some days when that seems to be all too true....
> The weeping when their winprinters don't work is so tedious.
That's nothing compared to the crying when they find that their Winmodems don't work and AOL's software isn't available.
That's nothing compared to the crying when they find that their Winmodems don't work and AOL's software isn't available.
Isn't that when you explain that AOL is the next biggest virus after "I Love You" or the Slammer Worm? O.k., so maybe it's bigger, but still...
> Isn't that when you explain that AOL is the next biggest virus after...
But Don, aol IS the Internet... Isn't it?
Keep in mind that AOL is all many of these people have ever known.
But Don, aol IS the Internet... Isn't it?
Keep in mind that AOL is all many of these people have ever known.
I have to agree with all 4 distros mentioned in the thread for someone green. MEPIS is my favorite, but I have to remove the fish tank and earthlink spam and...is it just me, but isn't it a PITA to get the weather changed to any city other than Morganstown WV??? It has its quirks. Ubuntu is really good once the install is finished. PCLinuxOS has the best eye candy, hands down. It's install is relatively painless, as well. If it weren't for those confounded RPM's I'd be using it.
I've used SLAX and like it a lot for a LiveCD, but I haven't installed Slackware for almost 10 years, so I can't comment on what a newbie would confront when installing to their system and managing packages, etc.
If the only intent was to use a LiveCD for utility, I would personally recommend DSL or Knoppix.
I've used SLAX and like it a lot for a LiveCD, but I haven't installed Slackware for almost 10 years, so I can't comment on what a newbie would confront when installing to their system and managing packages, etc.
If the only intent was to use a LiveCD for utility, I would personally recommend DSL or Knoppix.
> Keep in mind that AOL is all many of these people have ever known.
When that's the case, I doubt you'll see them trying Linux anyway.
When that's the case, I doubt you'll see them trying Linux anyway.
> ...but I haven't installed Slackware for almost 10 years, so I can't comment on what a newbie would confront when installing to their system and managing packages, etc.
WRT Slackware and newbies, one word suffices... Don't.
Using Slax as a live CD on the other hand, is a great way to try out Linux, especially on older machines.
WRT Slackware and newbies, one word suffices... Don't.
Using Slax as a live CD on the other hand, is a great way to try out Linux, especially on older machines.
> I have to remove the fish tank
I think it's gone in the new release.
> isn't it a PITA to get the weather changed to any city other than Morganstown WV
I kept quiet about that because I thought I was the only one bothered by it. Now I feel liberated.
I think it's gone in the new release.
> isn't it a PITA to get the weather changed to any city other than Morganstown WV
I kept quiet about that because I thought I was the only one bothered by it. Now I feel liberated.
> is it just me, but isn't it a PITA to get the weather changed to any city other than Morganstown WV???
Why would any one want to change it? :)
Edit added for clarity: For those who don't know, Morgantown is within 40 miles of my house.
Why would any one want to change it? :)
Edit added for clarity: For those who don't know, Morgantown is within 40 miles of my house.
> Why would any one want to change it? :)
/me rofl
/me rofl
and yet more similar articles...
... ordered by date too!
Choosing a Linux Distro By Suresh Ramasubramanian Posted: ( 2001-03-07 04:50:09 EST) http://www.freeos.com/articles/3777/
Choosing a Distro - a newbies guide Wednesday September 18, 2002 (12:02 PM GMT) By John Murray http://distrocenter.linux.com/article.pl?sid=02/09/18/126229...
Choosing Between the Big Linux Distros Written by special contributor Marcus Vorwaller on 2003-02-20 09:31:01 UTC http://www.osnews.com/story.php/2865/Choosing-Between-the-Bi...
"Which Distro Do You Recommend?" Wednesday March 02, 2005 (08:00 AM GMT) By: Brian Jones http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/01/2248250&...
Choosing and Downloading a Distro 08.31.05 Popular Home Distros By Oliver Kaven and Sebastian Rupley http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1854438,00.asp
Linux vs. Linux: Which Distro Should You Dump Windows For? * By Bryan Hoff. Date: Sep 16, 2005. http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=414291&rl=1
Choosing a desktop Linux distro by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (Jan. 24, 2006) http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3269115798.html
Choosing a Linux Distro A Newbie's Guide for Newbies By Merlin Whitewolf at 2006-04-14 00:33 http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/articles/Home_Use/Choosi... Also from LQ, http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Choosing_a_Linux_distrib...
What are all these distributions and how should I choose one? PDF format! by Stuart Yeates, 2007-02-01 [url=http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/its3/seminar-notes/2007-02-01-which linux-distro.pdf]http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/its3/seminar-notes/2007-02-01-which...[/url] again, a PDF file
Choosing a Linux Distribution Date: March 2007 (last updated Wed, 21 Mar 2007) Author: Stuart Yeates http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/selectdistro.xml
DistroWatch's The Top Ten Distributions A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a (Linux) Distribution http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
Linux Distribution Chooser test 2005 - 07, http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ zegenie Studios http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/
---------------------------------------------------
An interesting exercise is to compare any subtleties of the earlier "choosing a distro for noob"sites with the current slew of noob recommendeds.
Choosing a Linux Distro By Suresh Ramasubramanian Posted: ( 2001-03-07 04:50:09 EST) http://www.freeos.com/articles/3777/
Choosing a Distro - a newbies guide Wednesday September 18, 2002 (12:02 PM GMT) By John Murray http://distrocenter.linux.com/article.pl?sid=02/09/18/126229...
Choosing Between the Big Linux Distros Written by special contributor Marcus Vorwaller on 2003-02-20 09:31:01 UTC http://www.osnews.com/story.php/2865/Choosing-Between-the-Bi...
"Which Distro Do You Recommend?" Wednesday March 02, 2005 (08:00 AM GMT) By: Brian Jones http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/01/2248250&...
Choosing and Downloading a Distro 08.31.05 Popular Home Distros By Oliver Kaven and Sebastian Rupley http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1854438,00.asp
Linux vs. Linux: Which Distro Should You Dump Windows For? * By Bryan Hoff. Date: Sep 16, 2005. http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=414291&rl=1
Choosing a desktop Linux distro by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (Jan. 24, 2006) http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3269115798.html
Choosing a Linux Distro A Newbie's Guide for Newbies By Merlin Whitewolf at 2006-04-14 00:33 http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/articles/Home_Use/Choosi... Also from LQ, http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Choosing_a_Linux_distrib...
What are all these distributions and how should I choose one? PDF format! by Stuart Yeates, 2007-02-01 [url=http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/its3/seminar-notes/2007-02-01-which linux-distro.pdf]http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/its3/seminar-notes/2007-02-01-which...[/url] again, a PDF file
Choosing a Linux Distribution Date: March 2007 (last updated Wed, 21 Mar 2007) Author: Stuart Yeates http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/selectdistro.xml
DistroWatch's The Top Ten Distributions A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a (Linux) Distribution http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
Linux Distribution Chooser test 2005 - 07, http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ zegenie Studios http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/
---------------------------------------------------
An interesting exercise is to compare any subtleties of the earlier "choosing a distro for noob"sites with the current slew of noob recommendeds.
@vainrveenr
You've just done more damage than you can ever know ;-)
You've just done more damage than you can ever know ;-)
Guess that any damage will have to be attributed to growing pains :-)
In truth, common themes of all these distro-chooser sites going way back, are the general suggestions of choosing a distro (or narrowing down the distro field to 2-3 distros) based upon 1) one's background (with computers in general, Windows, Macs, UNIX, ... etc.) 2) one's present&anticipated wished-for/required distro features.
Hopefully this most accurately sums this up best.
In truth, common themes of all these distro-chooser sites going way back, are the general suggestions of choosing a distro (or narrowing down the distro field to 2-3 distros) based upon 1) one's background (with computers in general, Windows, Macs, UNIX, ... etc.) 2) one's present&anticipated wished-for/required distro features.
Hopefully this most accurately sums this up best.
Well, 'best' is a very relative term here.
As noted in the other thread, this is the last thing that noob users from windows should be looking at. A much better Idea is to actually talk to existing and experienced users, either in person, in Linux forums, or on IRC.
No matter how well meaning, 'distro-chooser sites' are a very poor way of picking a distribution and end up being a curiosity more than anything else. What new users need and want is 'experienced advise'. To get that advise, new users need to be individually evaluated by a real live person (other than the noob) and 'distro-chooser sites' are just a cheap substitute for that. New users trying to pick an appropriate Distro this way are usually the one's who flee back to Windows.
As noted in the other thread, this is the last thing that noob users from windows should be looking at. A much better Idea is to actually talk to existing and experienced users, either in person, in Linux forums, or on IRC.
No matter how well meaning, 'distro-chooser sites' are a very poor way of picking a distribution and end up being a curiosity more than anything else. What new users need and want is 'experienced advise'. To get that advise, new users need to be individually evaluated by a real live person (other than the noob) and 'distro-chooser sites' are just a cheap substitute for that. New users trying to pick an appropriate Distro this way are usually the one's who flee back to Windows.
FWIW, even before the earliest distro-chooser listed on top, there were also ESR's "Editorial Recommendations", such as this one from 'The Linux Distribution HOWTO'
maintained by Eric S. Raymond
v4.10, 10 December 1996,
http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~radionet/nuc1996/ref/howto-html/...
Carefully note from these 1.4 Editorial Recommendations of 1996, ESR's emphasis that "there is no substitute for doing your own evaluation based on experience...":
Also, SuSE at this time was an up-and-coming Linux distro from Germany officially called S.u.S.E. GmbH (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributio...).
AAMOF, there is probably in all likelihood at least one current LXer reader of this who originally checked out one of the top distro-choosers or else ESR's as anoob, and then eventually encouraged her/himself to venture away from Windows based upon that Slackware or RH 1CD enclosed in a Linux book.
Quoting:Last section, the facts. In this section, my opinions (for whatever they're worth -- and remember the caveat about free advice). There is no substitute for doing your own evaluation based on experience and the data in this guide, and these are intended more to illuminate my possible biases than as a guide to what you should do.One would do well to recall that a dozen years ago before ESR's own "distro-chooser" was put out, many fewer distros were even readily available, and for those distros that were available, there was much less "experienced advice" for the noob. Plenty of mailed-out AOL floppies and AOL CD's, but minimal-to-NO availability of that free mailed-out Ubuntu install CD... or even that friend's Linux iso CD. Here are some of the recommended American distros from that time period a dozen years ago or thereabouts (taken from http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~radionet/nuc1996/ref/howto-html/...) : * 2.1 Craftworks Linux * 2.2 Debian Linux Distribution * 2.3 DILINUX * 2.4 Linux Pro * 2.5 Red Hat Linux * 2.6 Trans-Ameritech Linuxware * 2.7 Walnut Creek Slackware * 2.8 Yggdrasil Plug-and-Play Linux CD-ROM and the Linux Bible
Also, SuSE at this time was an up-and-coming Linux distro from Germany officially called S.u.S.E. GmbH (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributio...).
AAMOF, there is probably in all likelihood at least one current LXer reader of this who originally checked out one of the top distro-choosers or else ESR's as anoob, and then eventually encouraged her/himself to venture away from Windows based upon that Slackware or RH 1CD enclosed in a Linux book.
@vainrveenr
So your point is it's historically intresting?
So your point is it's historically intresting?
My problem with distro choosers is that with the current live CD's, it takes six times as long and 12 times as much work to choose a distro as it does to get one running on your computer.
Pop the CD in, turn on your computer, wait for a Linux desktop to appear. Even a caveman can experience a Linux distribution.
Pop the CD in, turn on your computer, wait for a Linux desktop to appear. Even a caveman can experience a Linux distribution.
> Even a caveman
Ohh please... no cavemen ;-)
Ohh please... no cavemen ;-)
Okay, how about "a chicken can boot Linux".
> "a chicken can boot Linux"
Well, frankly they're just too... 'chicken' to try it :D
Well, frankly they're just too... 'chicken' to try it :D
> there is probably in all likelihood at least one current LXer reader of this who originally checked out one of the top distro-choosers or else ESR's
Not me. When I started checking out Linux the choices were SLS or Slackware. Debian came along shortly thereafter, as I believe did Yggdrasil. .
Not me. When I started checking out Linux the choices were SLS or Slackware. Debian came along shortly thereafter, as I believe did Yggdrasil. .
C'mon, the most important criteria in your choice of distro is easy: What are your Linux geek friends and neighbors using? Unless all your Linux geeky friends are running advanced distros such as LFS or Slackware, you should pick what they pick. Having personal support a phone call (or a few streets) away beats most of the differences between distros or their volunteer support communities.
> Having personal support a phone call (or a few streets) away beats most of the differences between distros or their volunteer support communities.
That's assuming I actually want to support someone else's Linux adventures. I use Debian, but would rather point them in the direction of a distro like Mepis, for instance, that has good (proprietary) wireless support and a good forum. Debian is not intended for newbies and only two people, my mother and my wife, expect to get extensive help from me.
That's assuming I actually want to support someone else's Linux adventures. I use Debian, but would rather point them in the direction of a distro like Mepis, for instance, that has good (proprietary) wireless support and a good forum. Debian is not intended for newbies and only two people, my mother and my wife, expect to get extensive help from me.
S.u.S.E. GmbH was founded about a year before redhat. They started out selling support and installation of the old SLS linux distribution.
SLS is the distro that Slackware is based on!
Two of the founders of Suse wrote a book on how to install and run Linux that was the 'bible' for early Linux users in Europe. After Red Hat started selling Linux, SuSE started to develop its own distro based on Slackware. Suse really became big when they added Red Hat's rpm package management to their slackware based system.
Suse was a great commercial distro. For many years I purchased a copy of their releases from their web site in order to support them. Whatever became of them?
(That's sarcasm)
SLS is the distro that Slackware is based on!
Two of the founders of Suse wrote a book on how to install and run Linux that was the 'bible' for early Linux users in Europe. After Red Hat started selling Linux, SuSE started to develop its own distro based on Slackware. Suse really became big when they added Red Hat's rpm package management to their slackware based system.
Suse was a great commercial distro. For many years I purchased a copy of their releases from their web site in order to support them. Whatever became of them?
(That's sarcasm)
> After Red Hat started selling Linux, SuSE started to develop its own distro based on Slackware.
Yep. SuSE started as pretty much Slackware with rpm's and KDE. The heritage is still there if you check their base packages.
Yep. SuSE started as pretty much Slackware with rpm's and KDE. The heritage is still there if you check their base packages.
And I always thought it was rooted in Red Hat. Learn something new everyday. ;-)
I think Slackware had the most packages for any distro at the time, and RPM was 'teh hot' in package management.
So it was pretty exciting when these German guys ported rpm to a slackware based distro. Yast was an attempt to create a consolidated install tool and control center.
The first time I used SuSE (or Red Hat for that matter) they both used FVWM. They were both command line based and you would set up X manually after install. I remeber how the X86Config steps were second nature to me.
So it was pretty exciting when these German guys ported rpm to a slackware based distro. Yast was an attempt to create a consolidated install tool and control center.
The first time I used SuSE (or Red Hat for that matter) they both used FVWM. They were both command line based and you would set up X manually after install. I remeber how the X86Config steps were second nature to me.
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